Russell Brand, Zoe Ball and Chris Moyles aren’t necessarily names that you would place side-by-side, but for the purposes of this post, that’s exactly what is going to happen. The reason for this being that all three of them have launched their own YouTube channels, variously documenting their lives, transforming take away-style cuisine or calling for a no-holds-barred revolution in political engagement across the UK and beyond…

While famous folk taking to YouTube is nothing new — Tulisa responding directly to the release of a sex tape, Bill Bailey blogging from his bunker or model Ruth Crilly recommending beauty products and sharing her life — it’s great to see people with established careers in TV, radio or film using YouTube to deliver personal projects, connect more directly with their audiences or simply try something new.

However, if revolution, transforming take aways or exploring life post-breakfast show fame don’t appeal, the YouTube UK spotlight channel hosts a selection of viral videos and more, and youtube.com/music seeks to meet your musical needs.

The music-making process is traditionally seen as prolonged and painful: weeks spent burning through budget in a darkened studio, wrestling with recording equipment and sweating over songwriting. Beatbox maestro Beardyman is having none of that -- he's planning to make an album an hour in a series of live shows on YouTube which harness the power of his audience and input from a celebrity record producer.

So tune in for an hour of music, madness and improvisation with a strong chance of comedy live on YouTube this Sunday. Not to mention the opportunity to watch Beardyman sweat and presumably fast-forward through the 'difficult second album' barrier. For more trending videos head to the YouTube UK spotlight channel and if talk of tunes has you wanting more, /music has playlists to suit every mood.

The Premiership enters its third week this Saturday and the league has already produced its fair share of surprises, with Manchester United without a win to their name and Swansea joining Manchester City, Spurs and Chelsea with maximum points from their games to date.

This season, fans of both clubs and the league as a whole can stay abreast of developments direct from the clubs themselves thanks to video updates from all of the Premiership sides bar Manchester United and Sunderland via official YouTube channels. Channels typically offer previews of the weekend’s games, post-match analysis, game highlights, glimpses behind-the-scenes, interviews with players, manager press conferences and more.

This weekend Tomorrowland stages the second of its sold-out three-day parties in Boom, Belgium, with DJ talent like Tiësto, Steve Aoki and Above & Beyond animating the crowd and streaming five hours of sets live on Friday, Saturday and Sunday here on YouTube.

The festival has racked up almost 400 million views, its series of official aftermovies from 2011, 2012 and 2013 accounting for almost 260 million of those clicks, proving the popularity of dance music events on YouTube.

EXIT Festival, in Serbia, for example — named the Best Major European Festival in 2013 — teamed up with YouTube electronic music powerhouse UKF this year to produce "Fresh From The Fort", a series of daily updates featuring artists including Gorgon City, Skrillex and Andy C talking music and sampling the local grog. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has streamed on YouTube the past few years, famously bringing Tupac back to life with a holographic performance seen around the world.

So if you can’t make it to The Great Outdoors to join the party in person — or if you want to relive magical musical moments after the event — then YouTube may have the answer. For more music, head here, and if it’s trending videos you fancy, the UK Spotlight Channel may well have something for you.

Ever since the likes of Terry Wogan and Michael Parkinson bestrode the world of the talk show like besuited colossi, the format has illuminated TV like no other. At heart it’s simplicity itself: two people talking. But the results can be unforgettable — in both good and bad ways.

The producers of these programmes have now started to turn to YouTube to share show snippets, with moments like Sandra Bullock playing the piano with her Christian Louboutins on The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Tom Hanks captured for eternity and clocking up almost five million views — in May 2013 the show's series finale drew ratings of a shade under 2.6 million.

But if the prospect of shooting the breeze with a celebrity doesn’t do it for you, why not plot a course to /music or /YouTubeUK to get a taste of what else is trending on YouTube… talkative or otherwise.

This Friday Jamie Oliver is going to attempt to deliver the world’s biggest cooking lesson live on YouTube as part of the 2014 Food Revolution Day, an event dedicated to broadening children’s knowledge of nutrition alongside improving their cooking skills. What’s on the menu? Rainbow Salad Wrap, apparently — tune in from 2pm.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube channel has been steadily building since relaunching in a more concerted, YouTube-specific way in late 2012. With 800,000 subscribers, 45 million views and more recipes than most of us will ever attempt in our lives, the channel has become a hub of food-related activity, bringing established chefs like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gennaro Contaldo to the platform. It has also provided a home for the likes of DJ BBQ, Barry from My Virgin Kitchen and Food Tube’s international competition winner, Felicitas Pizarro — and with Food Revolution is delivering something you'll struggle to find anywhere other than here on YouTube.

But, to give them their due, there is a channel that predates Jamie Oliver in terms of having a vision about food online and both building and connecting with the wider YouTube community in the form of Sorted Food. Starting out with an approach that was nothing if not irreverent, the channel has gone on to collaborate with top YouTube channels and rack up 63 million views — keeping things fun throughout.

If that isn’t enough food-based video for you, then the Waitrose channel recently launched a series featuring baking guru Paul Hollywood and Sainsbury’s have uploaded a raft of cooking how to videos. All in all, right now you’ve got no excuse not to hit the kitchen.

But if food doesn’t do it for you, why not head to /music or /YouTubeUK to get a taste of what else is trending on YouTube… edible or otherwise.

In case you hadn’t noticed, what with the Premiership reaching its most exciting (and borderline surreal) conclusion since Sergio Aguero’s last-minute winner in 2012, Brazil is preparing to host the World Cup this summer, welcoming the finest players and most fervent fans that the planet has to offer. At the same time a host of YouTube channels are also looking to serve your every need as the tournament approaches.

In the run-up to on-pitch hostilities, football lifestyle channel Copa90 have sent their very own Football Virgin, Maya Jama, to scope out the 12 cities that will provide the backdrop to the competition: visiting the stadia, finding out more about football in the country and — let’s face it — having what looks like a wonderful time in the sun.

Another person hoping that their day in the sun has come is England Manager Roy Hodgson, who is set to announce the squad he will take to Brazil on May 12 in a press conference that will be streamed live at youtube.com/England from 2pm. If you can’t wait that long, the channel also features his thoughts on fan expectations and the group stage England must navigate at the tournament, alongside all the action from the nerve-racking qualification process.

Las Vegas is built on showbusiness and right now the biggest show in town is the forthcoming fight to decide who will become the Welterweight Champion of the World, with the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather taking on Marcos Maidana. As part of the build-up to the bout, the Showtime Sports channel has produced an Emmy-nominated series profiling the fighters, which sits neatly alongside full-length fight footage and more, including Maidana’s 2010 loss to the UK’s Amir Khan at light welterweight — billed by Oscar De La Hoya as one of the fights of the decade.

If that isn’t enough of the sweet science for you, British boxing legend Chris Eubank’s son, Chris Jr, has set up a channel documenting his progress in the ring. The latest uploads show him knocking out Hungarian champion Sandor Micsko in the second round of the their eight-round fight, taking his tally to 14 fights unbeaten.

Another series of note to hit YouTube this week comes from TV naturalist Chris Packham, who, when he isn’t busy inserting The Smiths and David Bowie song titles into his BBC “Springwatch” scripts, is a keen birdwatcher. Troubled by the springtime tradition in Malta of shooting migrating birds — much of which is illegal — “Malta - Massacre on Migration” sees Packham talk to local campaigners, hunters and the local Police as he takes a closer look at a practice that many believe is impacting bird numbers across the whole of Europe.

For more highlights from across YouTube, head to the YouTube UK Spotlight channel to see the hottest videos of the day, stay abreast of what’s happening in the news and find out more about some of the trends making waves on the platform. And if it's music you want, give youtube.com/music a try -- what could possibly go wrong?

YouTube was busy over the weekend, with The FA Cup reaching the semi-final stage at Wembley and the Coachella Festival streaming live from its site at Indio, California, so if it’s goals or gigs you’re on the hunt for, you’ve definitely come to the right place.

The FA Cup has been uploading game highlights and more throughout this season’s cup campaign but has introduced a couple of new features in the form of Slomo:Cam and Pitch:Cam which offer up new angles and approaches to capturing the excitement of live sport. Besides these innovations, the channel features build-up content, interviews and post-match responses, offering a one-stop-video-shop as the hunt for silverware reaches its climax.

Weekend One of Coachella has wrapped but the channel is still streaming live performances from the likes of Ellie Goulding, Bastille and… Bryan Ferry (with Ladytron). The festival has also uploaded performance videos, so if you’re looking for a shot of live music still shrouded in desert air, you know where to go.

If you fancy a more local music experience, however, Neneh Cherry & Rocketnumbernine are slated to deliver an exclusive afternoon session for Boiler Room TV on Wednesday from 2pm. Tessa Pollitt from legendary all-female punk band The Slits provides a warm-up set and if the session is anywhere near as good as the one offered up by Andrew Weatherall and Friendly Fires earlier this month, then a treat is in store.

For more highlights from across YouTube, head to the YouTube UK Spotlight channel to see the hottest videos of the day, stay abreast of what’s happening in the news and find out more about some of the trends making waves on the platform. And if it's music you want, give youtube.com/music a try -- what could possibly go wrong?

If you fancy a taste of BSkyB’s new dramas without having to sign up to the broadcaster’s service, then head to youtube.com/SkyFirstEpisodes from this Saturday, February 1.

Series including “Moonfleet”, “The Tunnel” and “Moone Boy” will have premieres uploaded to the channel either as full episodes or initial scenes, so if you’re at all interested in the great British dramas that Sky TV have been producing, then head to /SkyFirstEpisodes and subscribe. An early look at Ray Winstone as the leader of a gang of smugglers? Why not.